Hand of the Fairest
by Aurora Bluewolf
Summary: When the gang is captured by Mumm-Ra, Liono is separated from the group, and learns that he will be forced to marry the next king- Grune. But when Tygra steps in to have a say in things, Mumm-ra sees only entertainment. T for now, yaoi
1. Chapter 1

Read and Review please. I do not own the Thundercats.

Fair warning, this will become yaoi. If you don't know what that is by now, turn back and leave please.

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><p>It had been a long day of running from Mumm-Ra's forces, and the group was very tired. they had bedded down for the night in a briar where they believed that they wouldn't be seen. Tygra was resting by Liono's side while WilyKit and WilyKat were curled against Cheetara. Liono was already asleep when Tygra glanced around the camp site, wrapping his arm quietly around his younger brother's upper body. No one would sneak up on them while Tygra had his back to the dead tree that currently decorated the briar patch around them. Liono was everything Tygra had left. Claudis had informed him of his adoption into the royal family when he was 16 years of age, the same as the lighter colored male that was currently under his paw at the moment. Tygra had figured it out long before then, obviously when he realized the different markings and the fact that he was always babied by the queen when she was alive. Bless her heart that she lived so long after the heart condition set in. Tygra remembered her well.<p>

Tygra started to allow himself to drift off to sleep as the smolders of the fire died down, leaving the place coated in darkness. As long as Liono was under his paw, things would be ok. There was hope in the young wielder of the Sword of Omens. And Tygra knew it was a long journey for the younger male, in both emotional bounds and physical leaps.

-a rustle

- a snapping branch

- a growl

-a thud on the back of his head

-a muffled yelp

-the kids screaming

-and nothing

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><p>Liono awoke to his newold room, and found that nothing had been changed. All of his trinkets had been left in the same place. All of the shelves had been left undisturbed, and the blankets were still strewn over the bed in absolute disorder. He remembered the night that he'd flopped down on these very sheets after the disagreement with Claudius. That same night resulted in Thundera's fall and his father's death. After all that happened that night, the disagreement wasn't the worst thing that could have happened. At least his father could see him earn his title of prince once before Grune's betrayal left him open to Mumm-Ra. Liono couldn't help but wonder what would happen to them now. Tygra was in the next room, probably padding around the unusually organized dwelling that made Liono's chambers look like a dump. He was probably thinking of some way out, if not at least get himself out to lead a resistance against Mumm-Ra. A small look around and a push to the stone wall showed that Mumm-Ra's forces were not as stupid as they looked. They had taken away his technology, mostly the remaining bombs and odd things that he still didn't know what they did, but they removed them none the less.

A knock on the door pulled the young prince from his thoughts. He turned as the door opened abruptly.

"The master wishes for you to come see him in the meeting hall." A lizard said as he closed the door and took his leave. Liono obeyed, knowing that any rebellion on his part would only lead to more pain and suffering for his people, as previously threatened by both Grune and Mumm-Ra. He pushed himself off the bed and started to walk down the hall, musing on the events that led them here and what could have gone better.

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><p>"There are many Thundarian laws I have read over the past few weeks, young Liono…" Mumm-Ra began as he started to pace back and forth in front of the standing youth. Liono kept his glare to a minimum and tried not to look the monster who had killed his father in the eye.<p>

"One particularly curious one caught my eye…" Mumm-Ra continued. Liono tried to be as polite as he could by agreeing in quaint words.

"You see… with the death of the king… anyone can take the Thundarian throne at this moment… if the royal heir agreed to their hand… in marriage…" Mumm-Ra said as he approached the cub and placed a heavy, unwelcomed hand on Liono's shoulder. Liono felt the need to vomit. He wasn't sure what the clearly evil being was getting at, but he couldn't help but notice Grune's smirk as the blue skinned being spoke.

"What are you talking about?" Liono said as he felt bile rising in the back of his throat. The heavy hand slid up to the cub's chin and held it firmly in place. Liono didn't like being held like this, simply because it kept his throat exposed and the evil creature had already proven himself untrustworthy.

"I won't be around very often to lead the current populous… so… I'm passing my duties onto Grune… who can clearly take the role of King better than I could…" Mumm-Ra said as he forced the cub's head to look at the larger male. Grune was nothing short of pleased to hear of his new title, undoubtedly announced to him hours ago if not days.

"So what do I have to do with this?" Liono asked, trying to keep his head relatively straight as he felt the now strengthened creature (he still didn't know exactly what Mumm-Ra was…) release his head and pace back to the throne. He felt the urge to run, but came to a logical conclusion that even if he tried, the guards would have pinned him in a moment, if Grune didn't force him to the ground just for turning his back on Mumm-Ra.

"Oh dear boy… you have everything to do with this." Mumm-Ra said as he walked back up to the throne and tossed himself on the seat. He motioned for the rest of the guards to leave them, and Grune grunted in approval as the last of the guards filtered out of the hall. Liono felt a cold chill run up his spine in fear as he felt the need to run. Grune was at his back, less than five feet from him, and there was nothing he could do about it. If he tried to escape, then he would be tackled to the ground. If he tried to run, he would be caught. If he tried to fight, there was no way that he'd stand a chance against Grune. Even without back up, Grune was a former general of Thundera. Liono was a lightweight to say the least. Even if he managed to get a good punch in, Grune would have taken him out in a moment.

"What are you talking about?" Liono said as he felt the fur on the back of his neck rise to a prickling point.

"You see… Grune has had a strong affection for you since you were young… and he has asked me to grant him your hand… so, in turn, he will be king… and you will be his…" Mumm-Ra stated as he looked around the throne room.

"Forget it…" Liono growled as he pulled against the chains that held him. They clicked against the stone floor. A vague memory of playing near the throne on this same floor came back to Liono as he did his best not to launch himself at the monster. He heard Mumm-Ra sigh as he started to look downwards. He didn't want to be in the same room as this monster, much less hear how the same male that had betrayed his father wanted his hand in marriage so he could rule the country.

"Sad you think that… because Grune will have no problem just taking what he wants…" Mumm-Ra said as he motioned for the larger male to come closer. Before Grune could reach out to grab the younger, now struggling male; a familiar orange and black striped figure threw itself from the balcony and right into Liono's chained form. A large sword found its way to Grune's nose, it's tip gleaming in the dimmed lights of the palace hall.

"Don't lay a paw on him, traitor." Tygra said as he pulled the younger brother into his half embrace. Liono let himself relax a bit, knowing that Tygra was ok. He had feared for his brother's life when they were captured, and hadn't seen him since.

"Don't play the hero, cub." Grune growled as he moved towards the younger males. Tygra held his sword tightly, ready to stab Grune if he gave him so much as a awkward look.

"My my… what have we here?" Mumm-Ra said as he admired the new development.

"Nothing, master. Just a cub trying to play hero without his armor." Grune said reluctantly, growling at the orange male as he did so. Tygra pulled Liono closer to his chest as he held his stance. Grune bore his fangs at the younger male, but it did nothing to deter Tygra.

"A cub you say… boy. Who are you?" Mumm-Ra barked. Tygra looked up to the monster and smirked.

"I'm Tygra… adopted brother of Liono… and son of Claudis…" Tygra said as he granted the beast a momentary glance.

"How are you to son of Claudis?" Mumm-Ra asked as the guards ran back into the throne room.

"By title, love and grace only." Tygra responded. Mumm-Ra smirked at this new development. Oh this would be fun. And judging from the look on Liono's face, the younger of the two youthful males didn't know anything about this little development. His fear and sudden distress was clear.

"Sir, I will get rid of him for yo-" Grune started, moving towards the young striped male.

"That won't be necessary, Grune. Come here… Tygra… and Grune…" Mumm-Ra said as he waved them both over. Both males followed the orders as Tygra kept his sword nearby. He knew he couldn't trust Grune.

"Guards… take Liono back to his room. Gently." Mumm-Ra said as he waited for the guards to escort the trembling youth, who was still calling out for Tygra, out of the court. When the heavy doors had closed themselves, Mumm-Ra turned to the two males.

"Grune… you were bested by this… youthful lad here but only a moment ago. He claims to be the adopted son of Claudis… and you were once a great general for this land… so… whichever one of you can earn young Prince Liono's favor by the month's end… will be given the hand of Liono in marriage… and the kingdom." Mumm-Ra stated.

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><p>What do you guys think? Good? Bad? What on earth am I thinking? Continue? Tell me please… this will stay G rated (well… PG with Liono's language)<p> 


	2. Brother, are you well?

I don't own Thundercats or the characters.

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><p>Liono was pacing in his room, slowly trying to wear a pattern in the marble tiled floor. He hadn't heard hide nor hair of the elder males in an hour now, and was starting to get worried. Usually, everyone would have been in bed by this forsaken hour, but if that blue being downstairs had anything to say about it, they would probably be up all night.<p>

It wasn't like Liono was going to rest anyways. That jerk had just decided to marry off the REAL king of Thundera to the traitor that had killed his father. Who the hell did he think he was? And Liono was a MALE. A male PRINCE. Not a princess. Didn't this buffoon know anything about the legal premises of the laws here? Males weren't allowed to marry males (unless it had been a really bad birthing year, and they didn't have enough females to go around). And being stuck here under their thumbs wasn't what Liono was planning to do! What happened to Cheetara? The kids? And Snarf? They better not have hurt any of them. Panthro was probably kicking some stupid lizard's tail even as Liono sat here. The panther had a reputation to uphold after all…

Liono stopped pacing for a moment as he felt his stomach start to roll. He bent over and tried to will the pains away as he focused on the floor. He hoped he wouldn't puke, even though he really felt like he was going to. Attracting attention when lizards were outside your door wasn't a good idea. The usually meant they would have to come in, clean up, check to make sure he hadn't attempted to poison himself, get him cleaned up, and then put him to bed like a newborn cub. It was humiliating to say the least. And Liono felt like he didn't get a real chance to say anything against them. This was his room. He should at least be allowed to put himself to bed, right? Ugg….

Liono started coughing, and surely enough, a run to the bathroom later, the guards were storming their way into the large bedroom with guns pointing in every direction, looking for a target to kill. When they found none, one of the guards wandered over to the open bathroom door to find the cub hunched over the toilet, hanging onto the rim as if he was going to puke again. He had collapsed from the endeavor so far, and failed to work up any more energy towards getting off the floor. His green eyes pried themselves open when a calming hand found its way to his shoulder. Liono barely managed to look up to see the lizard removing their helmet and kneeling beside him.

"You ok?" The green lizard asked as he rested his gun against the bathroom wall. Liono wasn't a threat in this state, so there was very little to worry about. Liono gave himself a feeble push off the toilet seat so he was sitting on the floor.

"Yeah, I'll be fine…" Liono said as the lizard helped him back up to his feet slowly. The guards could see the stress in the cubs eyes. That amount of stress always lead the cub to feel physically ill, but rarely did it make him vomit like this.

"What's wrong? Eat something bad?" Another lizard asked as he poked his head through the open door. Liono allowed the gentle set of scaled hands to help him to his feet. He was wobbly, but managed to grab onto the sink for added support. After all, it's kinda rude to fall on the person who was helping you stand up, right?

"No… just… stress…" Liono gulped out. He could have sworn his stomach muscles were making this worse (1). He tried to remember to relax them, like Tygra had told him to when they were younger and he kept getting sick one year. Tygra had his good moments when the right time called for it… but most of the time, Tygra was just his typical Tygra self…

"Let's get you back to bed, cub." The lizard holding him said carefully. Liono couldn't agree more. Bed sounded so good right now. Soft, gentle, warm, loving, comfy bed.

"Mmmk" Liono mumbled out, his lower jaw refusing to open after the vomiting spell. Personally, he was a little afraid that he might puke again if he opened his mouth.

"Here we are… safe and sound…-*should we tell Mumm-Ra?*" Liono heard the lizards speaking, but could only make out a few whispers.

"*Yea, he'd be mad if we didn't. Can't blame the kid though. Grune's scary enough as is, think about being stuck with him for the rest of your life!*" The voices kept whispering. Liono's eyes must had slid shut without him noticing, because he felt himself falling backwards into the embrace of slumber. He wanted to stay awake and hear what they were talking about, but after 20 seconds, he just couldn't keep his ears working anymore.

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><p>Tygra and Grune walked in silence as they approached the younger male's room. Liono wasn't suppose to know that he was the prize in their little competition, but that because it might make him biased in choose the victor. And Mumm-Ra would have none of that.<p>

"I take it we do this fair and square?" Tygra said as he kept his orange gaze set in a straight forward glare. His room was right beside the younger male's, and Grune wouldn't know about the many stories that had been told of his cheating ways. Tygra, one to usually play fair, wasn't going to allow this traitor to cheat his way into Liono's hand. Given, Tygra himself wouldn't really know what to do with the younger male at the moment, he did know that he didn't want to see Liono forced to wed someone who had helped kill his father (adopted or not) and overthrow their homeland, all in a quest for undeserved power at the expense of far too many lives.

"Fair and square it is." Grune said as stopped and turned to Tygra, paw extended in a supposedly in a sincere gesture. Tygra knew better. This was Grune after all, he'd probably try to at least grease the sword handle when it came to a sparring match over the young beauty's hand. And there would be a sparring match. It was the Thundarian custom after all.

Thundarian tradition went a little something like this. First, each male had to get the female's attention, either by impressing her (in this case, him), or by bringing her a gift- such as a fresh kill from beyond the city walls or a soft flower from, again, beyond the city walls. It was frowned upon to bring a gift simply bought, because it showed that one didn't really want the courting, and simply believed that money was a solution for anything (assumed, bear in mind). Second, all courting males would have to battle each other in some fashion (which was debatable in most cases, but between the former general and a prince, swords would be the best tract). Third, if the battle didn't decide a clear winner, each of the males would have to show their intelligence. Needless to say, Tygra had an upper hand here. Royal's educations were nothing short of well versed. That would usually determine the winner of the fair maiden's hand, but in this case, Tygra just needed to win to keep his younger brother away from the greedy Grune's paws.

Tygra, despite getting into a lot of arguments with his younger brother, loved him for who he was (well, in most cases… the technology thing always sent a wave of embarrassment through Tygra's body when the cub brought it up in public…). He didn't LOVE Liono like that… but he would still fight to keep the brat away from this monster. Tygra remembered quite well the conversation between Claudis and Grune the day that Grune left with Panthro to find the Book of Omens.

_"He's a cub, Grune! And he just lost his mother! Do you know even within the slightest how appalling this is?" Claudis growled. Grune, smug as usual, just stood there taking it. Tygra, confused as to what they were talking about, only remembered walking into the courtyard with his father to find Grune and Liono sitting together at the fountain, and Grune was flustered. Liono, innocent as usual, didn't seem to understand what was going on. Claudis ordered both cubs to go to their respective rooms. _

_"Easy Claudis. No reason to get testy. It was a harmless kiss, nothing more." Grune remarked. _

_"Harmless? Harmless? He's a boy, Grune! And you are an adult! This is wrong on so many levels…" Claudis said as he covered his eyes with his hand and rubbed his face. _

_"Claudis, relax, nothing bad will come of this if we just let it go…" Grune said as he leaned against a nearby post. Tygra could have sworn he'd never seen his father as mad as he was at that moment. Claudis reached out and grabbed his general by the neck, pulling him to the golden male's face and growling. _

_"If you ever lay such a hand on my son again, you will have me to deal with, Grune. Now go pack your things. Panthro and you will head out at first morning light."Claudis said as he released the other male. Grune, slightly disgruntled, stormed off in the direction of the door. Tygra, recently learning his invisibility power, cloaked himself in the right colors, and stood perfectly still as the elder male walked right past his hiding spot. _

Looking back, Tygra should have killed the male on the spot just for kissing his brother. Liono was young, and if Tygra recalled correctly, that was two days after they had buried the beloved queen. Liono took her death hard, crying for the entire evening until he fell asleep in Tygra's arms (Claudis was getting them dinner at the time, and Liono didn't want to come out of his room). It nearly broke Tygra's heart to see little Liono clinging to him, sobbing uncontrollably as he called out for his mother. Seeing the younger male so raw and emotionally ripped apart made Tygra realize exactly how young and fragile Liono's emotions were. Tygra swore to protect his little brother from everything that posed a threat to him that day. After all, he only had one brother…

One little brother…

Always smiling at him…

Always laughing at his jokes….

Always… just being Liono…

…the halcyon days were over…

…he shouldn't be focusing on the past…

…he should be protecting the future…

…and Liono.

Tygra didn't realize that he'd been standing alone in the hall for minutes while he mused on the brat. He turned and headed towards his room, stopping only when he saw the guards frantically ushering a doctor to Liono's room. Tygra broke into a sprint-

The brat better not have hurt himself.

"Let me through, please! He's my brother!" Tygra said, trying to make his way through the lizards as quickly as they would allow. Some of the lizards tried to hold him back while others moved aside.

"Let the cub through." A voice came from inside the darkened room. Tygra was used to light usually pouring from the younger cub's room, thanks to all the lights that he kept lit when he was working on another piece of scrap metal. Tygra felt the scaly hands leave his chest and arms, while his own legs seemed disjointed from his body as he moved forward into the room. After passing from the light to the relative darkness, Tygra saw a two figures at his brother's bedside. He calmly walked over to the bed, noting that Liono was lying in the multiple sheets and blankets- wrapped tightly in the many cloths that adorned his unusually neat bed (the doctor must have made it, Liono wasn't tidy about things like this). Tygra took his place beside the doctor, who was a lizard, and was wearing a simply white robe and dark pants. The other figure, another lizard guard, was holding what appeared to be his medical kit.

"Are you the one they call Tygra?" The medic said slowly, making sure he was heard through the whisper that was an unspoken rule when dealing with an injured or ill cat.

"Yes sir… is he ok?" Tygra said as he reached for his brother's form, but stopped himself when the doctor looked at him like the young cub was insane. Tygra, feeling like he'd just stepped on someone's toes, stood still with the worried look plastered to his face. The doctor rose to his feet and dusted himself off.

"He'll be fine. He just has a slight fever, nothing to be too worried about- probably the stress just getting to him (2). He should rest tonight at least. With Grune nagging him, I doubt that will be possible tomorrow. But you are his brother, correct?" The doctor asked as he placed his equipment back into the box the guard was holding.

"Yes sir…" Tygra said as he stared at the doctor.

"As it stands, you are the only one who's allowed to stay with him tonight. He's not going to be a hassle, but he's been asking for you for the last half hour." The doctor said as he collected his things. Tygra, slightly startled by this revelation, nodded while his mouth began to open on its own. The doctor started to leave, not really having more to say.

"Thank you, sir." Tygra said as he made his way over to the desk, and waited for the sound of the closing door to turn off the light. He carefully made his way around the bed as his bright orange eyes adjusted to the dim, moonlit room. He slid off his boots and his shirt, making sure to leave them far enough away from the bed that he wouldn't trip on them should he have to spring up in the middle of the night. He pushed his backside up onto the bed and slid down on the covers, only taking the few top most sheets and comforter with him- so if Liono woke up in the night, he wouldn't think his brother was being perverted. After all… they were brothers.

And he had to protect his brother…

Tygra, worried with fear ebbing into his chest at the form of the younger male lying beside him, allowed a heavy hand to lay itself on the slowly rising, warm chest of the younger male. It felt good to just rest for one night with his best friend…

And despite what the rest of the castle thought, Liono was Tygra's best friend. Heck, up until the events of Grune's return, he was Tygra's only real friend. All the others were maids and butler's sons assigned to pretend they were his friends, but if things turned bad, they would turn tail and run like cowards. After Liono was old enough to go places with him, Tygra couldn't get rid of the kid. And he really didn't like it at first, but when he realized he had a little brother to look up to him, that tune silenced itself. He had someone who just wanted to be around him. Not for wealth. Not for fame. Not for pleasing a king (bless Claudis for thinking of his adopted son's happiness though). Just to be his friend.

Tygra felt his body move closer to the slumbering male's form, pulling him closely to the orange and black striped chest as he tried to just listen to the now even breathing of the younger male. After a moment of musing on his younger brother's colorations being so light, he pressed a small, humble goodnight kiss to the younger male's forehead and rested his own head on the pillow.

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><p>1 When you get stressed, your stomach muscles will start to cramp up on you if you lean over too much. Poor Liono isn't having much luck with this, I'm afraid. And you can make yourself sick if you let it go too long. So, if you ever encounter this issue, take the palm of your hand and place it at the bottom of your rib cage. Then, start to move your hand down slowly towards your navel- not beyond, or this won't work. Then move it back up in a circular motion, rubbing the muscles that are hurting the most while slowly straightening your spine into a standard upright position. This should relieve the pain. If not, try it on a bed. That usually kills it. If it still doesn't relent, get to a hospital- you have a virus.<p>

2 As any college student will tell you, stress will make you ill. It actually shuts off normal hormone production while replacing it with lactic acid from the muscles that is usually staved off by said hormone production filtering it out as you go. Yeah. So don't stress yourself out. It can hurt you.


	3. Oh yeah I'm Scwed

And- Yes Sami, I actually wrote this. XDDDDD *insert evil laugh*

Thank you to all my readers, reviewers and people who are just passing through. Here, have some cybercookies. I can't do names this time cuz i have no patience to go looking through all the reviews... and there were a lot! So major thankies! You guys are awesome, and if you reviewed, you get more cybercookies!

I don't own Thundercats. CN does. Go annoy them please.

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><p>Liono awoke with a splitting headache. He didn't really remember right off the bat where he was, but he was warm. And rolling on his side proved that someone was next to him. He tried to pry his unusually heavy eyelids open, but gave up after a minute of fighting with them. He felt the arm that was occupying his left side pressing against his rib cage move. It felt good to know someone was there with him, even if it was just for securities sake, or the fact that he'd been left alone in the room he once sought so much refuge from the world for far too long for comfort. He used to think that these white walls would protect him from the taunts and jests of the people who thought he was a total loser, now he just wished that he could hear someone talk to him.<p>

Liono moaned as he tried to make his exhausted body do something. He should be investigating who was next to him… though, if they hadn't hurt him by now, he was probably safe enough. Grune certainly wouldn't have allowed the younger male to sleep this long. He'd probably be growling at him by this point to wake up and follow him to whatever awful wedding crap he's been forced to observe. Pfff, like Liono was even going to get a say in what happened to him in this embarrassment of a wedding. Cats were suppose to marry for love, and on occasion- politics, but not because of some blue skinned creature told him he had to marry. Liono was the future king of Thundera! Not this joker! And certainly not Mumm-Ra!

A moan next to him caused the younger cat to break away from his rampant thoughts. The tone of the moan hit home with the young male. It sounded like Tygra… but Tygra wouldn't be here. He was always very conservative when it came to comfort, only offering it to the females of the castle. The mere idea of offering to his younger brother was stupid to say the least. Liono tried again to open his eyes, and was greeted with the bright morning light shining in them. It was close to dawn, and the sky through his balcony window was a pink, yellow and purple painting. There were a few clouds out, sending even more colors through the sky… but none of them matched the darker colors of the male next to him. Despite his thoughts, Tygra was resting next to the younger male… and happened to have lost his shirt sometime in the evening hours. His heavy paw was draped over Liono like a dead animal, making Liono's breathing harder than the previous nights exhaustion had already left him. He tried to turn over to escape the weight against his chest, but only found that his shoulders and waist refused to move. He couldn't really feel his hips, but gave up on trying to move away from the tiger as the other's arms came around his smaller form in a teddy bear hug. Liono released a groan of defeat, realizing that this wasn't going to go anywhere soon…

"How you feeling, cub?" The tiger said as he nuzzled the younger male's mane unintentionally. Liono grumbled against the sensation of having someone rub his mane like that. It felt really good, but he tried to fight the fact that it was Tygra doing it. After all, the male didn't usually act so… so… _friendly_- towards him. Tygra was usually hitting on the next piece of female tail that came his way, not snuggling with his little brother.

"I'd be better if you'd stop trying to cuddle me…" Liono said with a blush. Tygra growled at his through a smirk, making sure that the child felt even more uneasy than before.

"Aww, is cubby Liono trying to escape his big bruver?" Tygra said in a mocking voice. Liono, trying to resist the urge to laugh, allowed one tiny scoff to escape through his mouth. He couldn't help it, Tygra was funny. Even when trying to resist the bastard he was funny. Tygra smirked as he pressed his nose into the cub's fur and breathed out. For some reason, he was just calmer when he knew where and how Liono was. He felt Liono relax against him, almost as if he realized they were the only ones in the room.

"I feel a little better…" Liono finally answered. Tygra was worried that his baby brother wasn't about to become ill again or start throwing up blood. Who knew what Grune or Mumm-Ra had done to the boy while he wasn't there! He could have been ill from internal organ damage for all Tygra knew! (1) And Grune wasn't one to keep his naughty paws to himself! For all Tygra knew, Liono could have been poisoned by one of Grune's love potions in an attempt to get the adorable brat to fall for him!

"How's the stomach?" Tygra asked as he released the cub's upper body to observe his eyes and forehead. Liono's temperature seemed ok, but his eyes weren't dilating at the rate he'd hoped they would.

"It feels ok… why do you care?" Liono asked, shocked that his big brother would be acting like this. It wasn't like he was going to disappear in a moment if he'd been allowed to get up. Tygra pulled back, a look of confusion adorning his face.

"Well… I… I… I was just concerned." Tygra said, trying to convince himself that was all he was trying to do. Something was wrong here… and he felt that it was within himself. Some strange feeling was arising from the back of his lower chest, ebbing its way into his heart and slowly blossoming into a strange, exotic flower that had never grow in his hest before. He was almost afraid to identify this feeling, but chose to leave it be as he sat up and pretended to stretch.

"Let's get up for the day… you and I can go check out the damage to the kingdom. I'm sure the lizards have dismantled everything of any worth…" Tygra said as he slipped on his shirt and boots again. Liono yawned as he agreed, showing off his tiny fangs. Some cats had huge fangs, like Grune, but Liono had tiny little fangs. They were so small, one would almost call them feminine. Tygra liked Liono's features… because they were so cute. He didn't think they were cute like a little cubs cute, but cute like… like… oh, he couldn't even place it. He smiled as the small mouth closed itself, enclosing the tongue and teeth that looked so small.

"Why are you staring at my mouth? Is there something wrong with my teeth?" Liono asked as he started to run his tongue over the white surface quickly. Tygra laughed as he pushed himself towards the door, allowing the brat to get dressed in privacy. He ran over to his room to make himself decent, nodding a hello to the guards as he passed them. After making sure nothing had managed to catch fire in his quarters the night before, Tygra set back out of his room and started for downstairs. May as well get a jump on things while his brother was getting ready. he managed to find a few of the Riders (anyone know what those things were?) still in the paddocks, and saddled them up quickly.

"TYGRA!" A familiar female voice came from behind him. He looked up from the second mount's straps to see Cheetara jogging her way over to him. Her speed enhancing braces were gone, and she seemed a little less worse for wear than himself and Liono. Cheetara was a nice girl, but didn't seem to be too bright on most days. Perhaps it was the training as a Cleric, or just the fact that Tygra was above average in intelligence, but she seemed... lacking in an standard Cat education. Claudius's predecessor had made sure to institute a standard Cat education into each young mind born in their lands. However, as royals, Tygra and Liono were protected against the common public. Not out of spite, simply because they were easily targeted and young enough that they could have been taken without too much trouble and removed from the city quickly. No king was willing to lose their child, as any parent would understand, so the royal cubs were tutored in the higher educational arts within the safety of the palace walls and under the close eye of the king and queen.

"Cheetara!" Tygra said as he opened his arms to hug the young woman. He'd missed all the others since they'd disappeared, but Liono was still his primary concern. Cheetara hugged him roughly as he tried to release her after a moment.

"What happened to you guys?" She said as she started to check him over for injuries. Tygra smiled gently at her.

"We're fine, thanks to them being so busy, but it's going to be a stressful future I'm afraid." Tygra said as he started to check her over as well.

"What do you mean?"

"Liono's apparently been placed into a bit of a competition, and he's the prize. He's not suppose to know about it, something about bias or something, but he is suppose to wed Grune if I don't win..." Tygra said as he stared down at his feet. He was really at a loss of what would happen if he failed... but fleeing was a good option, assuming he could outrun Grune and sabotage some tanks just in case.

"You mean the Law of Succession?" Cheetara said. Tygra's eyes shot up.

"What are you talking about?" He asked, quite surprised by her informative quip.

"When a King passes, anyone can challenge the heir to the throne for either the kingdom or their hand in marriage. However, if they happen to be the younger of the litter, their elder siblings must fight for their honor. If the elder wins, they keep the kingdom, if not, they are wed within a day. It's the old Thundarian law. Since you are Liono's elder, that makes you his current champion. After all, future rulers do not fight their own battles. It sends the wrong message to the public, and manages to usually favor the royals as victors when the competitors fear harming their potential mate." Cheetara said, sending Tygra reeling from the information. What the hell? Wasn't she suppose to be the cute cleric- oh wait... that's right... she's trained to understand all the rules that surround the kingdom. Duh...

"So... you said competitors?" Tygra asked as he lifted his hand to his face, inquisitive look falling on his features.

"Yes. As in, more than one. Anyone can jump into this competition, including commoners and others from various regions. There are no limitations, except revealing it to the prize is not allowed, and demands immediate expulsion." Cheetara said. Tygra felt ill all of a sudden. The thought of losing Liono to anyone was scary, but now he could have even more competition than before. Grune was going to be hard enough to defeat as it was, but the idea of some of the assholes they had faced in the past (and thoroughly beaten more often than not) trying to combat for Liono's hand scared him. Liono deserved better! He deserved a mate who would love him! Not some asshole that was trying to rule their own country! And given, Tygra and Liono had an entire empire to repair as soon as they finished their quest (not likely now… but the quest could wait. The world wasn't going to explode because of this), there wasn't really much of a country to repair right now. Half the populous alone had died in the initial bombings alone. Tygra knew he'd have to start practicing as soon as possible. Chances were, with this much competition, his chances of winning Liono's freedom shrunk with every competitor that crossed his mind. He hoped at least the duelist and Slithe hadn't decided to enter. Last thing he needed was for those two to be striving for Liono's neck instead of his hand. And he KNEW the duelist would want to have Liono's head mounted on his wall after he took the Sword of Omens as his own.

"So basically... I'm screwed in this competition no matter how I approach it?" Tygra said.

"Well... not exactly..." Cheetara replied as she reached for something in the large satchel she had on her back. Tygra, in all his acute male senses, seemed to have not noticed her shoulders while staring at her... well, you know Tygra.

"What's that?" He asked as she handed him a smaller sword. It kinda looked like the sword of Omens, but no power was felt flowing from it.

"It was suppose to be an extra sword should the Sword of Omen's metal ever give out. Jaga had it hidden in the relics of the temple he used to train us in. He gave me the spell to let out it when we were captured after the battle for the city. So... since you can't use the Sword of Omens, this will be your weapon. It's enchanted, but not to the magnitude of the Sword of Omens. I hope it will lead you to victory..." Cheetara said as they both heard Liono's paws hitting the floor from just inside the castle.

"Thank You-" Tygra only had a moment to whisper as she swiftly dodged behind a bush and gave him a thumbs up.

"Ready to go?" Liono said breathlessly. Tygra had to admit, the cub was cute when he was flushed. He smirked and raised his hand to Liono's head to give him a signature Tygra rub. Liono tried to pull away, but let loose a laugh the Tygra used to hear only when they were much younger and far more innocent than these times had left them.

"Yeah cub, ready to go..."

* * *

><p>And that's it for a while... not out of choice, but life's picking back up and I need to focus on stuff outside writing. Expect an update maybe every two weeks or so.<p>

Read and Review! (actually review, no 'stupid' comments. If you don't like it I understand, but just saying it's stupid is ignorant and uncreative at best. Give me REASONS why it's not to your liking.)

1- Tygra being a big brother and fretting. Isn't it cuteeeee...


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